The delicious Onion pakoras!!!!

When it comes to food, you shouldn't compromise!!!! Specially snacks are the most important part of a daily schedule. And specially if its a rain day, the ideal evening can be perfectly described by a bowl filled with crispy hot Indian pakoras and a cup of hot masala tea to go with. Just sit down, relax and enjoy the drizzle with your pakoras. 

Now, the most important part is How to make the perfect pakoras!!!!!!

Ummm, well its tricky!!! But i can tell you the way it is!!!! 

Here it goes:-

1. Take a clean dry bowl and take one cup of Gram flour or besan as we call it.

2. Add water to the bowl keeping in mind that the water  should be only that much to make the flour paste. The paste should not be too thick or thin.

3. Add salt and mirch powder to the bowl now. You can even use green chillies if not mirch powder.

4. Now we should chop the onions. Take 2-3 onions for around 4 people. If more, then the quantity should increase. 

5. Now make onion slices. The slices should not be too thick or thin.

6. Now we should switch on the gas.

7. Take a karahi and add oil to it. The quantity of oil should be that much that the pakoras gets dipped in it.

8. Now, wait till it is boiling hot.

9. Now, pour the onion slices into the paste, in the bowl and mix them well. Mix them in such a way that the onion has the paste coating.

10. To check if the oil is boiling hot, add 1 drop of paste to the oil. If it starts to fry, then we are ready to fry them.

11. Take slice per slice and put it into the oil slowly.

12. Fry them till they turn brown red.

13. Keep in mind, the slices should not stick together while frying. It should be separate.

14. When taking out the slices from the karahi, keep in mind to remove the extra oil and it can be done by keeping them in a piece of clean newspapaer as that will absorb the oil.

The delicious Onion pakoras are ready to serve and eat!!!!!!!!!!

Photography of Oman Dive Centre.

Photography taken at Oman Dive Centre.

SCUBA DIVING IN THE LAND OF THE HISTORIC SULTANS : "OMAN"

OMAN, IT IS THE LAND OF THE ANCIENT SULTANS AND SCIMITARS LOCATED IN THE SOUTHEAST CORNER OF THE ARABIAN PENINSULA. 

 IN THE HISTORY, THE EMPIRE OF OMAN STRETCHED  DOWN THE EAST AFRICAN COAST  AND COMPETED WITH THE BRITISH AND THE PORTUGUESE FOR THE CONTROL OF THE PERSIAN GULF AND THE INDIAN OCEAN. 

UNTIL THE 1970s, OMAN WAS COMPLETELY CLOSED TO THE OUTSIDE VISITORS BUT SINCE THEN IS HAS OPENED ITS DOORS FOR VISITORS AND THE SCUBA DIVING UNDERWATER WORLD IS RICHER BECAUSE OF IT.

THE CAPITAL CITY IS MUSCAT WHICH IS ALSO KNOWN AS THE WALLED CITY. IT HAS SOME OF THE VERY FAMOUS AND ATTRACTIVE PADI DIVE CENTRES. THESE CENTRES STAY OPEN YEAR AROUND, BUT YOU HAVE TO CHECK DURING THE BEAUTIFUL 'OFF' SEASON IF SCUBA DIVING IS STILL POSSIBLE FOR DIVERS.

IF YOU WANT TO EXPLORE THE UNDERWATER WORLD OF OMAN, YOU CAN TAKE TRAINING IN THE OMAN DIVE CENTRE WHICH IS THE BEST DIVING ACADEMY IN THIS LAND BECAUSE OF THE PRESENCE OF WELL TRAINED PROFESSIONAL SCUBA DIVING EXPERTS. OMAN DIVE CENTRE IS LOCATED JUST 15 KMS FROM THE CAPITAL CITY MUSCAT.



DIVE SITES OF OMAN.

1. DAYMANIYAT ISLANDS.

 THESE ARE SMALL AND ROCKY ISLANDS WHICH ARE ENCIRCLED BY CORAL REEF.  YOU CAN SPOT MANY TURTLES HERE AND ALSO FISHES INCLUDING PELAGICS AND LUSH CORAL REEFS.  THIS SITE IS CONSIDERED TO BE THE BEST SCUBA DIVING SITE IN OMAN AS IT HAS SITES TO SUIT SCUBA DIVERS OF ALL LEVELS.  YOU CAN VISIT THIS SITE ONLY FROM THE MONTH OF MAY TO OCTOBER.


2. BANDER KHAYRAN.

SCUBA DIVING HERE IS ON SHALLOW CORAL REEFS.   IT HAS THE BEST WRECK DIVES IN OMAN KNOWN AS THE AL MUNNASSIR.   HERE YOU CAN SPOT THE GIANT MORAYS, SNAPPERS, GOATFISHES, TURTLES AND RAYS.


3. FAHAL ISLAND.

THIS ISLAND IS 30 MINUTES FROM THE CAPITAL CITY MUSCAT.
THIS SITE IS FAMOUS FOR THE DEADLY SHARKS !!


4. THE CAVES.

WHEN DIVING IN THE CAVES,YOU CAN SPOT THE SPINY LOBSTERS, CLEANER SHRIMPS, AND OTHER CREATURES FROM THE TURTLES CRUISING BY. WHEN DIVING IN THE CAVES, DO NOT FORGET TO BRING YOUR TORCH LIGHT !! 


5. LIMA ROCK.

IN THIS SITE,SCUBA DIVERS CAN SPOT THE WHALE SHARKS DURING COOLER SEASON OVER HERE AND ALSO YOU CAN SPOT THE JACK AND THE TUNA PROWL. DO NOT FORGET TO SEE THE OSPREYS AND SOOTY FALCONS HERE. THESE ARE BEAUTIFUL CREATURES UNDERWATER.


6. MIRBAT.

IN THIS DIVE SITE,YOU CAN SPOT THE MORAYS, THE SHARKS, OCTOPUSES, SNAPPERS, TURTLES, DOLPHINS AND THE OCCASIONAL WHALE. VERY BEAUTIFUL !!



THE WATER TEMPERATURE IN THESE SCUBA DIVING SITES ARE 19-28 DEGREE CELSIUS AND 66-82 DEGREE F.



THE NEXT TIME, YOU VISIT THE LAND OF THE HISTORIC SULTANS, DO EXPLORE THE UNDERWATER WORLD OF OMAN BY TAKING A SCUBA DIVING COURSE AT THE OMAN DIVE CENTRE AND EXPERIENCE THE BEAUTIFUL CREATURES HIDING UNDERWATER.




WRITTEN AND COMPOSED BY:-

SUKANYA BORA.

Conclusion.

Scuba Diving around the Andamans is restricted only to Havelock. Here new dive sites are being discovered all time and new undiscovered fishes are being seen in the Andaman islands. The Andaman and Nicobar islands is located in India. To visit this you need to first Travel to its capital Port Blair. So the next time you visit India, do not forget to scuba dive in the magnificent Andaman bubbles.

Written and composed by:-
Sukanya Bora

Photography by:-
Andaman Diving Academy,
India.

Dive Sites.

Marine life is abundant in the Andamans. The seas around the Andamans are some of the world's most unspoilt. The Andamans has unique species of fishes of different colors, corals and pristine reefs.
From the dept of Johnny's Gorge to the gardens of Minerva ledge, there are plenty of things here for everyone. What makes the Andaman islands different from others is that here you will find so many fishes than scuba divers.

1. South button. It is 6 to 25 metres in all levels. It is the most popular place to dive. Its full of fishes and corals. Snorkeling is best here. It has the Manta Ray or the odd little Devil ray passing by. You can see the Barracuda here. From there you can spot the Big Eyed Trevally, batfishes, crocodile fishes, moray eels, turtles, angelfish, blue fin Trevally and Nudibranches. You can also see the white bellied sea eagle from above the water.

2. The wall.  It is of 10 to 30 metres in all levels. It is a small wall that drops in to the shipping channel near the jetty on Havelock. It is the best local site. It is visited by a very large Napoleon wrasse called Pierre who is very friendly to the divers. The top of the wall is full of purple, red and yellow soft corals. This has beautiful pufferfish, lionfish and Nudibranches. You can also spot octopuses, Scorpionfish and anglerfish. You can also spot Kulhs rays with or without tails on the sandy part.

3. Pinnacles. It is 18 to 30 metres and is advanced. These are surrounded by Barracuda, Giant Trevally, Giant Groupers, Tuna and Mackerel. You can also spot beautiful Big Barrel sponges perch on the edges of the large pinnacles which is covered with glassfish. There are  many colors here with lots of angelfishes and shy red toothed triggerfishes looking for holes to hide from the glares from the Napoleon wrasses circling the reefs.

4. Johnny's Gorge. This is 20 to 30 metres in advanced level. Its just 3 minutes from the Minerva ledge. Its the place where dolphins visit. It is not a big reef but most divers do not notice the beautiful colored corals because they are surrounded by a kaleidoscope of swirling Barracuda, Giant friendly grouper, unicornfishes and snappers. This is the place where you can see the sharks on a regular basis and even groups of eagle rays often drop in.

5. Elephant beach. This is 6 to 25 metres on all levels. It is popular for dive training and snorkeling. It is the only site where you can walk straight of the beach. It has pipefishes and different kinds of shrimps and porcelain crabs. The reef has colorful staghorn, feather/basket/sea stars, harlequin sweetlips, groupers etc.

6. Neels Cove. This is 12 to 45 metres on all levels. Here stinggrays, blue stripped snappers and humpback parrot fishes are spotted here.

7. 7th Heaven. It is 6 to 17 metres on all levels. Here damselfishes including the famous nemo (clown fish), ornate ghost pipefish have  been spotted here.

8. Minerva ledge.  It is 10 to 18 metres on all levels. Here Napoleon wrasses, eagle rays, white tip sharks and an uncommon tiger shark is spotted here.

9. Plotreef. It is 8 to 20 metres on all levels. This site has small reef fishes with  Napoleon wrasses, Manta ray, leopard shark, big stingrays, turtles, scorpion fish, sea snakes and Trevally.

The above sites are some of the most popular and the most famous dive sites in the Andaman islands. Some of the others are as follows :-
1. Ghost reef.
2. i-95
3. Mystery mountains
4. Duncan's wreck
5. Jacobs table
6. Guddo's garden
7. Jackson's Bar.

Part 4

The next day was a tough one. I had to dive towards the south. South is a bit scarry. I was worried about having an encounter with the sharks. Oh God!! I kept on praying please let me be alive  !! I started to dive. I kept on going deep towards the south bubbles. Then there was a beautiful turning and I saw something more prettier  than what I had seen the  previous day. Quickly my team experts took some photographs. This was another starfish. This one was more pretty.  The water underwater was crystal clear and sky blue. I suddenly felt lighter. As if breathing was not a difficulty for me now underwater.

PART-3

DAY 2 : I STARTED TO EXPLORE THE UNDERWATER WORLD AGAIN.

I COULD SEE GLOWING RED FISHES,FLUORESCENT GREEN EELS AND NOT TO FORGET CID YELLOW CORALS TOO. SEEING THESE ITS HARD TO BELIEVE THAT A WORLD EXISTS UNDERWATER TOO,SO BEAUTIFUL SO MAGICAL AS IF SOME OF THE THINGS YOU HAVE NEVER EVEN HEARD IN YOUR LIFE, YOU GET TO SEE THOSE UNDERWATER.

INDIA AS A SCUBA DIVING LOCATION IS REALLY RARE BUT WHEN YOU ARE DOWN THERE YOU REALIZE THAT MOST OF THE BEAUTIFUL CREATURES ARE HIDDEN THERE IN INDIA UNDERWATER IN THE ANDAMANS, WAITING TO BE SEEN. AND I BELIEVE MOST OF THE FOREIGN PEOPLE WOULD BE AWWWWED TO SEE WHAT INDIA HAS HIDDEN UNDERWATER. A WORLD YET TO BE EXPLORED.

I KEPT SEARCHING FOR MORE STARFISHES. THESE ARE SO BEAUTIFUL. STARLIKE. THE ANEMONE FISHES ARE ALSO GORGEOUS. THESE ARE GOLD LIKE. I SPOTTED VERY LESS DOLPHINS UNDERWATER. I GUESS THEY ARE VERY LESS OVER HERE. STILL THE ONES I SAW WERE SPARKLING AND GLOWING.

 THEN I SPOTTED SOME OF THE PRETTIEST ANGELFISHES, BUTTERFLYFISHES,PARROTFISH,WRASSE,GROUPERS. THEN THERE WERE CORALS,NUDIBRANCHES, BLUE- BLOTCH BUTTERFLYFISHES, STINGRAY, TRIGGERFISHES, CLARK'S ANEMONES FISH, CLOWN ANEMONE FISHES. IF YOU ARE LUCKY THEN YOU MIGHT ALSO SPOT A RED CORAL PERCH. 

THESE FISHES WERE SO PRETTY ALL OF DIFFERENT COLORS, SOME YELLOW, SOME GOLD, SOME BLUE, AND SOME STARLIKE.

I WANTED TO GO ON DIVING. QUICKLY MY GIRL TEAM EXPERTS TOOK PHOTOGRAPHS WHATEVER THEY COULD OF THESE WONDER LIKE SEA CREATURES. IT REALLY SAYS ANDAMAN BUBBLES. INDIA INCREDIBLE. UNDERWATER WORLD NEVER SEEN BEFORE.